Wyoming steer wrestlers excel at Reno Rodeo

Last year, steer wrestler Les Shepperson, from Midwest, Wyo., left the Reno Rodeo with a pair of championship spurs and paved his way to his second Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) qualification.

Another Wyoming cowboy let fans know at the third performance of the Reno Rodeo that he wants to add those spurs to his trophy collection. Seth Brockman from Wheatland, Wyo., took the overall lead by half a second. He had a 5.3-second run in the first round Sunday afternoon. Then during the performance he stopped the clock in 4.2 to have a total of 9.5 seconds on two runs.

Brockman’s time surpassed that of Trevor Knowles, from Mount Vernon, Ore., who is now in second with 10.0. Both men look good to be here for Saturday night’s championship round.

The win would be huge for Brockman who is 20th in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association world standings. He needs to move into the top 15 and stay there through the end of September to qualify for his second NFR.

“This rodeo is the start of a busy summer season for us,” Brockman said. “Winning anything here can sure help a guy going into the Fourth (Fourth of July run). Hopefully that guy is me.”

The first round of tie-down roping got really fast on Sunday. During pre-rodeo competition, Jake Hannum from Ogden, Utah, stopped the clock in 7.7 seconds, the fastest run at the rodeo so far. Then, during the performance, Teague, Texas, resident Scott Kormos beat that with a 7.2. They both have yet to rope their second calf and are in good position to move into the top twelve in the over-all standings here.

There was only one qualified bull ride Sunday night, but it was a good one. Wyatt Mecham, from Heber, Utah rode Corey and Horst Rodeo’s Painmaker for 86 points to take the lead in the long round. Cody Whitney from Sayre, Okla., moved into second with an 84.